Tech Startup Growth Hacking 101 - Basics on Growth Marketing
Sprouts Farmers Market Digital Campaign Strategy
1. BH Digital -- Digital Campaign Brief
Sprouts
F
armers Market
| Borowski | Helms |
MKTG 4805 Introduction to Digital Marketing | Daniels College of Business
4. Sprouts
Farmers Market
Company
Overview
Neighborhood grocery store
With an old fashioned farmers market feel
Bright and friendly stores with quality products at great values
And friendly, knowledgeable team members to help you make healthier
choices in your budget.
•Fastest growing retailer in the US
•Headquarters in Phoenix, AZ
•160 stores in 8 states
•14,000 employees
Sprouts Farmers Market
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5. Sprouts
Farmers Market
Company
Mission and Vision
Mission: Healthy Living for Less
Vision: To create a hybrid between a natural foods store, a farmers market
and a conventional supermarket, and as such provide a low-pressure, easyto-shop, highly affordable steppingstone to better eating
Sprouts Farmers Market
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6. Sprouts
Farmers Market
Company
Goals
Social Responsibility
–
–
–
–
–
–
Food Rescue Programs
SCRIP Fundraising – helping non-profits raise money
Community Events
Volunteerism
Walk now for Autism Speaks
Grab ‘n give Holiday Food Drive
Increasing Business Intelligence
•Just became publicly traded in August – doubled price in first day
•Merchandise Analytics from Manthan Systems
aggregate retail data from multiple sources so that merchandises, marketers, and everyone
else can access a single application to gain insights regarding business performance
quickly and easily
Sprouts Farmers Market
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7. Sprouts
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Farmers Market
Customers
HEALTH AND PRICE CONSCOIUS
Young Singles
20-35 years old
Most price
sensitive
segment
Highly connected
online and on mobile
Families
Primarily mothers
Searching for the best
value
Active online and via
email
Sprouts Farmers Market
Environmentally
Conscious
College educated
Highly informed
segment looking for
quality
Research and fact
check online
8. Sprouts
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Farmers Market
Competitors
BY SEGMENT
Young Singles
Kroger Co.
King Soopers
Safeway
Families
Trader Joe’s
Safeway
King Soopers Fresh
Fare
Competitive
Trends
Sprouts Farmers Market
Environmentally
Conscious
Whole Foods
Natural Grocers
Farmers Markets
9. Sprouts
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Farmers Market
Competitors
Porter’s 5 F
orces
[high start up cost and
complicated supply chain]
[educated consumers]
[variability of products and
seasons]
[readily available
alternatives with low
switching costs]
Sprouts Farmers Market
12. Sprouts
12
Farmers Market
Digital Marketing Programs
Slide 1 of 2
E-News
Facebook
Twitter
Website
“In a Nutshell”
257,711 likes
6,321 followers
www.sprouts.com
Free monthly email
newsletter sent to
registered
customers. Can
sign up on website.
Contains coupons
and e-news
updates.
Well updated and
active community
interaction/posts on
page. However, low
number of likes
compared to Whole
Foods (1,405,000).
Personalized
responses to
followers and daily
tweets. Instagram is
connected to feed.
Very low following
compared to Whole
Foods (3k).
Confusing homepage
for navigation, but
excellent use of online
coupons and
promotions for instore. Links to
Facebook and Twitter
pages with option to
“like”.
Sprouts Farmers Market
13. Sprouts
Farmers Market
Digital Marketing Programs
Continued
Instagram
Pinterest
3,400 followers
2,381 Followers
Mostly photos of
store products, liked
to Twitter account.
However, no
mention on website
or Facebook page
and not many likes
per photo.
27 boards of recipes,
seasonal produce, and
food infographics.
However, no mention of
existence anywhere but a
link from their Facebook
page. Also hard to searchcan’t find from searching
“sprouts” alone (need
Sprouts Farmers Market).
Sprouts Farmers Market
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15. Sprouts
Farmers Market
Campaign Goals
Loyalty and Growth
To increase loyalty in current consumers, by creating
brand advocates and ultimately growing the company’s
consumer base.
Target Audience: Families, primarily mothers, searching for the best value
and are active online and via email.
Strategy: Create a loyalty program, rewarding customers for faithful
consistency in shopping at Sprouts via discounts, sales, promotions,
events, etc., including benefits for referring new members to the program.
Sprouts Farmers Market
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16. Sprouts
Farmers Market
Target Persona
Julie
Mother of two young children
Suburban, ages 30-45
Primary shopper in household
Smartphone owner, digitally savvy
Concerned w/price and quality
Wants to provide for her family with the
peace of mind that she is delivering the
best quality groceries at the best price.
Feed Denver: Urban Farms & Markets
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17. Sprouts
17
Farmers Market
Positioning Map
Natural Grocery Industry
Farmers’ Markets
Health Conscious
Natural Grocers
Whole Foods
Sprouts
Trader Joe’s
KS Fresh Fare
Low Cost
High Cost
Safeway
Kroger Co.
Low Health Conscious
Sprouts Farmers Market
18. Sprouts
Farmers Market
Value Proposition
Sprouts F
armers Market
“Live Healthy for Less”
We offer the HIGHEST QUALITY of groceries at PRICES
comparable to or less than your everyday grocery store.
Sprouts Farmers Market
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20. Sprouts
Farmers Market
Campaign Messaging
Online Value Proposition
Mobile/online hub for loyalty program:
• Scan phone at checkout
• Automatic Foursquare check in
• “Brand ambassador” title for high engagement
Program Benefits:
• Points accumulated for purchases in store, referrals, and
number of visits, etc.
• List/shopping features with coupons
• Special promotions
Resistance:
• Takes more effort for amount of savings
Sprouts Farmers Market
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22. Sprouts
Farmers Market
Campaign Goal
LOYALTY AND GROWTH
To increase loyalty in current
consumers, by creating brand
advocates and ultimately
growing the company’s
consumer base.
Sprouts Farmers Market
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23. Sprouts
Farmers Market
Creation of Loyalty Program
Tactic 1
“Sprouts Club”
Description: Create an easy use loyalty program that gives members
exclusive access to:
•Special discounts and in-store sales on marked items
•A mobile app that includes: list making, recipe ideas and suggestions,
customized store maps, nutritional info and in season produce.
Rationale: Creating loyal consumers will ultimately create brand advocates,
in turn increasing awareness of Sprouts.
Sprouts Farmers Market
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24. Sprouts
Farmers Market
Marketing Sprouts Club
Tactic 2
Description: Introducing “Sprouts Club” to shoppers and gaining members
by:
•Hosting a booth with greeters at the entrance of all stores for “Membership
Month,” providing food samples and iPads set up for easy sign up
•QR codes located on sale item displays linking to the sign up page to give
customers another touch point
•In-store promotional banners, fliers, brochures, floor decals, displays
•Webpage re-design to promote program on homepage
Rationale: By increasing shopper awareness of the loyalty program Sprouts
will gain members.
Sprouts Farmers Market
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25. Sprouts
Farmers Market
Implementing Referral
Program
Tactic 3
Description: The Sprouts Club Referral Program will provide mutual benefit
for club members and Sprouts when members refer friends to the loyalty
program. Members will receive “seeds” or membership points which
accumulate to gain them rewards and Sprouts will gain new (loyal) customers.
Rationale: This program increases Sprouts’ customer base, loyalty, and
overall profitability.
Sprouts Farmers Market
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26. Sprouts
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Farmers Market
Integration
On and Offline
Welcome Booth
For awareness and initial sign up in
store
In-Store Promotion
Advertising in-store to promote
program
QR Codes
Physical codes in-store lead
to the online sign up on
website
Sprouts Farmers Market
32. Sprouts
Farmers Market
Budget
Financial Considerations
Expenses to support tactics
– Financing for talent acquisition in terms of technological development
– Financing for marketing efforts and in-store promotional tactics
• I-Pads
• Membership Cards
• Banners/Hanging Signs
• Window Decals
• Sign-up Tables
Required Sources
– Hire from within or acquire new talent for task force who will carry out all
aspects of the project
– Acquire an expert to create the technology for the Loyalty & Referral
Program
– Employ extra labor involved in promotional activities
Sprouts Farmers Market
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33. Sprouts
Farmers Market
Key Stakeholders
Communication Plan
Investors & Board of Directors
• Present and explain the project plan
• Emphasize sales, profit and ROI increases
• Take responses and suggestions into account
Employees & Suppliers
• Incentivize employees to give customers a reason to be loyal
• On-going training about the program and the benefits to the
organization
• Show how the projected increase in sales at Sprouts transfers
into profits for suppliers too
Customers & Community
• Promotional and marketing efforts will explain all benefits of the
Program
• Community will be given the opportunity to become more
Sprouts
involved as consumers Farmers Market
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34. Sprouts
Farmers Market
Risks
Mitigations of “Sprouts Club”
Exclusivity Backfires
Underperformance
Consumers who do not sign up for
Program may stop shopping at Sprouts
because they do not receive the same
discounts
“Sprouts Club” does not obtain the
increase in sales to overcome the costs
of the program
Lack of Understanding
Use of Data
The Program is not well received among
customers causing Sprouts to lose
significant capital to development and
implementation
Not collecting the right data and/or not
using the collected data to the
organization’s advantage
Sprouts Farmers Market
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35. Sprouts
Farmers Market
Addressing Risks
Transparency of Program
Fully explain the ease of signing up
for the Program – No
requirements, no restrictions, no
hidden fees.
Back-up Plans
Test The Technology
Produce several “back-up” plans
in terms of marketing and
promotion - Need several different
methods for obtaining members
Develop and test the technology
to make sure it records and
analyzes the data driven by the
Program - Know in advance how
the data will be used
Feed Denver: Urban Farms & Markets
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37. Sprouts
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Farmers Market
Key Performance Indicators
Quantitative
Metric
Activity
Interactivity
Sales
-
# of New Members
# of Referrals
# Download of Apps
# of Social Media followers & “Likes”
Qualitative
- Distribution of referrals per customer
- Positivity/negativity of social media interaction
- App Rating Survey
- # of Lists Made
- # Discounts redeemed
- # Store Visits
- # Seed Points Received
- Geographic tracking of app use (in-store versus out of store)
-In Store Surveys
-Social media
-Customer satisfaction according to employees
-Buzz generated around member events and promotions
- % Change in monthly sales
- % Change in inventory turnover and product spoilage
- % Change in returned products
- Employee Morale
- In-store satisfaction poll
- Corporate wellbeing
- Shopper testimonials posted in-store
Sprouts Farmers Market
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Farmers Market
May Dashboard
Membership Month
Total
Conversions
Conversion Rate
# of Non-referral New Members
1,282,500
282,150
22%
# of Referred New Members
67,500
51,638
76.5%
# of App Downloads
333,788
313,761
94%
TOTAL
1,683,788
647,549
39.5%
Sprouts Farmers Market
39. Sprouts
Farmers Market
Conclusion
We recommend the creation of “Sprouts Club”
in order to grow loyalty, create brand advocates
and expand the company’s consumer base.
By offering additional benefits to the typical
customer experience, this loyalty program will
ultimately encourage a new buying behavior that
is beneficial for all parties involved.
Sprouts Farmers Market
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40. Sprouts
Farmers Market
The Next Steps
1.
2.
3.
Develop the task force that will be
involved in the project, including the
talent for the technology portion
Conduct research and develop the
timeline to make the project a success
Begin to equip all stores with
promotional material
Sprouts Farmers Market
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Editor's Notes
300 visits daily x 30 = 9,000 x 150 stores = 1,350,000
95% Non Referrals
5% Referrals
